Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - The Loophole in the System

Airlines want your money, and they’ve devised sneaky ways to get it over the years. Change fees, baggage fees, you name it. But frequent flyers have uncovered a brilliant loophole that lets you have your cake and eat it too when it comes to e-credits. Here’s the key: airlines let you cancel award tickets for e-credits, no questions asked. Even better, you can use that e-credit to rebook the same award ticket over and over until you find the perfect date for your trip.

Let’s walk through an example. You book an award ticket using miles for next month, but then realize you can’t make the trip work. Simply call the airline and cancel the award for an e-credit. They’ll refund your miles and give you an e-credit for the taxes and fees you paid. Next, rebook the same award ticket with your miles for a few months down the road. Pick any date you want since you already have an e-credit to cover the fees.

As that trip approaches, decide you want to postpone again? Cancel and rebook a third time! You can do this as many times as you want until you nail down dates that work. The key is having that e-credit from your original cancellation to cover fees each time. It essentially lets you reserve award seats now before they disappear, but push off actually taking the trip until ideal timing.

Frequent flyers love this because award seat availability isGetting miles back in your account to rebook is easy; finding those same award seats months later if you didn’t already have them on hold can be impossible. This loophole lets you lock something in now knowing you can tweak later.

Just be sure to only cancel close to departure to avoid change fees. And don’t cancel so last minute that the airline can’t resell the seat. I like to aim for canceling around 2 weeks out. Too close to departure and they may charge you. Too far out and they could get grumpy about you tying up the seat for so long.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Timing is Everything

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Pick the Right Fare Code

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Avoid Basic Economy at All Costs

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Monitor Closely for Price Drops

Price drops are the unicorn of the travel hacking world. While mistake fares get all the hype, monitoring prices closely and pouncing at the first sign of a drop can score you serious savings too. I’m talking hundreds less than everyone else pays. But you have to be vigilant.

Luck favors the prepared here. Have flight alerts setup to notify you the instant prices budge. I like using Google Flights for this since you can track specific routes and get emails if the price drops. Set these up the moment you book so you’re ready to strike.

Keep tabs on the airline sites too in case a sale pops up there first. Sign up for fare sales alerts from your favorite airlines. Follow them on social media for flash sales that may not hit the OTAs.

The key is checking prices routinely in the months leading up to your trip. Airfares fluctuate constantly, sometimes dramatically. New seats open up, demand changes, and prices swing wildly. Just a $50 drop can be a win.

I saved $150 per ticket on my Asia trip by monitoring daily and booking the instant our flights dipped. They fluctuated between $750 and $850 for months. One random Tuesday they plunged to $600. Snagged them immediately and slept like a baby that night!

My friend Dave has the patients of a saint. He watches routes like a hawk and has scored insane last minute deals, we’re talking 70%+ off. His secret? Set fare alerts and check them hourly the final two weeks before departure. Often last minute desperation sales materialize and he pounces.

Avoid sitting back and hoping prices drop. Checking frequently is the only way to ensure you capitalize the moment they do. Sites like Google Flights make monitoring easy. Set email alerts, check back routinely, follow airlines on social. With some discipline you can save big time.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Act Fast Once the Threshold is Met

Speed is of the essence when a price you’ve been stalking suddenly plunges. I learned this lesson the hard way during my trip planning to Australia a few years back. Qantas had steady pricing around $850 for the LAX to Sydney leg I needed. One random afternoon the Google Flights alert dinged my phone with a $650 fare, a massive $200 price drop! I was pumped, but busy at work and figured I’d book that night. Rookie mistake.

By the time I logged on at 8pm, that bargain basement rate was gone. I kicked myself for not jumping on it instantly. Lesson learned. When your target price threshold hits, you have maybe hours, sometimes minutes to pull the trigger before that limited inventory vanishes or the airline fixes their mistake.

I now train my travelers to recognize that booking window is tiny when a long-awaited deal materializes. We get one shot, so be ready to take it. Have your credit card and travel details handy to check out seamlessly. Most flights can be booked directly on the airline site these days in just minutes.

But even a short delay can mean losing out. I’ve seen $99 mistake fares disappear in under 5 minutes as word spread on forums and eager travelers flooded the airline site. Set up accounts, save your passport info, and be ready to speed through booking when the time comes.

Cindy from our Mighty Travels Facebook community got burned by hesitating on a price drop recently. She’d been waiting for LAX to Auckland to hit under $650, and one day it popped up for just $595 on Air New Zealand. Thrilled, she added it to her cart, but then decided to shop around a bit more before purchasing. When she returned 30 minutes later, that crazy low fare had vanished.

Another member, Allen, has the right approach. He says whenever he gets the alert a price has dropped, he drops everything and books. No hesitating or secondary browsing. He knows how ephemeral these deals can be. The five minutes it takes him to wrap up his work or finish dinner could make that airfare disappear into thin air.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Have Backup Options Ready

Life comes at you fast. When that can’t-miss deal finally appears, you need to be ready to pull the trigger. But what happens if something goes wrong during booking and you lose out? Illness, tech issues, a surprise deadline at work, anything can sabotage even the most prepared travel hacker at the last moment. That’s why having backup options in your back pocket is critical.

The pros plan for contingencies so that if Plan A crumbles, Plan B is already queued up and ready to deploy. Maybe it’s booking on a different device or pulling the trigger with a travel agent partner who can finalize the purchase for you.

Jenny from the Mighty Travels Facebook group learned this lesson when the perfect fare she’d been waiting on for months popped up on United. Thrilled, she rushed to book, only to have the United website crash repeatedly. By the time she gave up and switched to try Expedia, that bargain rate had vanished into thin air.

After that frustrating loss, Jenny changed her approach. Now she researches backup booking options for every deal she tracks. If she sets a Google Flights price alert, she also checks seat availability on the airline site directly and through OTAs. That gives her multiple purchase paths to pivot to if her top choice falls through.

Ryan, another community member, takes it a step further. When he identifies a flight deal he wants to lock in, he pre-reserves it simultaneously on both the airline site and his preferred OTA. Then if something interferes with booking on one, he simply cancels that reservation and keeps the other.

While Ryan’s tactic can tie up funds temporarily as both bookings authorize, it ensures he’s got two active reservations he can choose between if his Plan A booking fails. As long as he cancels the unused one quickly, he avoids getting actually double charged.

No matter what backup options you pursue, the key is being ready to instantly pivot if your first try at booking a coveted fare falls apart. Have alternative sites, devices, and even travel agent friends ready to swoop in so you can still lock in that deal.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: How to Book with an E-Credit Then Cancel for a Refund - Know the Airlines' Policies Inside and Out

Knowing an airline's policies inside and out is crucial for successfully getting a refund after rebooking an award ticket with an e-credit. Airlines intentionally make rules around cancellations and refunds complex and opaque. But doing your homework to understand the fine print can make the difference between a smooth refund and losing your money.

The first critical policy area is change vs. cancellation rules. Most airlines treat these differently - changes incur a fee, cancellations get an e-credit. Key to getting your money back is canceling, not changing the ticket. But some low-cost carriers like Allegiant blur this distinction, charging hefty change and cancellation fees equally. Know which is which.

You also need to grasp how close to departure you can cancel without getting slapped with fees. Usually it's 24 hours, but may be as little as 2 hours on ultra low-cost airlines. Cut it too close and that e-credit refund is gone. I'd recommend canceling at least 1 week out to be safe.

It's also essential to know if your fare is refundable or non-refundable. Refundable economy fares are rare, but do exist on some international routes and premium cabins. These would allow an actual cash refund, not just an e-credit, if canceled. Understand if your specific ticket qualifies.

Be clear on the expiration policy as well. Most e-credits expire one year from issue date, but can vary. Knowing how long you have to use the credit can impact rebooking strategies.

Additionally, learn if your airline allows the original ticket purchaser to receive the refund. Often, the passenger name doesn't need to match. But on ultra low-cost airlines, if the person canceling isn't the original buyer, the credit can be lost.

Finally, know how to check your e-credit balance online and via phone. Monitoring your account to ensure the credit processed is crucial. If something got lost in the shuffle, you want to address that ASAP with the airline before rebooking again.

Archie, a member of our Mighty Travels Facebook community, learned the hard way just how complex and unforgiving airline policies can be. He canceled an American Airlines award ticket and rebooked with the e-credit. But when he needed to cancel again, he found he had "changed" not "canceled" the original ticket. American slapped him with a hefty fee as a result. Policies he assumed were standard were in fact totally different.